‘Going on with our little movement in the hum drum-way which alone is possible in a land like this’: Olive Schreiner and suffrage networks in Britain and South Africa, 1905–1913

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article explores the letters of South African feminist writer Olive Schreiner (1855–1920) to illuminate connections and tensions between suffrage movements in the imperial metropole and on the colonial periphery. Schreiner's letters shed fascinating light on how she used her contacts in the global suffrage movement to advance local suffrage work. They indicate key differences Schreiner identified between the British and South African suffrage movements, including that the latter should be focused on educating women to want the vote. Schreiner's emphasis on universal suffrage also brought her into conflict with local suffrage organisations which were willing to accept a racial franchise, and also with key figures in the international suffrage movement.